Sled attachment for wheeled vehicles



w. AND P. GABON.

SLED ATTACHMENT FOR WHEELED V EHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30. 1922.

1,438,359] Patented Dec.12 ,1922;

' InvenTo-w Patented Dec. 1123, 1922.

snnn n'rirnenr/rnnr non wri-linnnn vnnronns.

Application filed. March '30, 1922. Serial "No. 547,937.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, Wlnrnnn Canon and PHILIAS C noN, citizens of tneUnited States, residing at Rumford, in the county of {Oxford and Stateof Maine, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Sled Attachmentsfor lV-hee-led Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is toprovide an attachment adapted to bequickly and conveniently attached to,;and removed from, the axles of achilds vehicle or .go-oart, without requiring structural changes in theaxles, and to constitute, when attached, a sled, the runners of whichare adapted to be raised-above the lows portions of the wheels .on saidaxles, and storedinoperatively between the wheels, and to be loweredbelow the lower portions of the wheels, and securely held in position torun on a road and elevate the wheels above the road.

The invention is embodied in theimprovei ments hereinafter described andclaimed.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

l1 igure 1 is a perspective view of our improved attachment by itself,the runners being in their operative positions.

Figure 2 is aside elevation, showing the attachment folded and clampedto a pair of axles which are shown in section.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all 'of thefigures,

The attachment of our invention includes a rigid hanger formed as aframe, adapted to be rigidly secured by clamps 12 to the axles 13, of achilds carriage. Thehanger includes two spaced apart cross-bars 14;,having raised portions 14, adapted to be seated on the under sides ofthe axles 13, and secured to the latter by clamps 12, as shown by Figure2. The hanger also includes spaced apart side bars 15, which are rigidlyconnected with the cross bars, ipreferably by means 'of uprightstandards 16, attached to the side bars by bolts 18, and secured bybolts 17 to the downwardly bent ends of the cross bars.

To the end portions of the side bars 15 are pivoted by bolts 19, twopairs of parallel links, viz., a pair of forward links 20, connected bya tie bar 21, and a pair of rear links 22, connected by a tie bar 28,the links being caused to move in unison by the tie bars.

To the swinging ends of the links 20 and-22 are pivoted by bolts 24, theendportions of runners 25, extending parallel with the longitudinalhanger bars 15, each runner being preferably an-angle bar, as best shownat the upperportion of Figure 1. When the links are upright, as shown byFigure 1, the runners are lowered considerably below the hanger bars15,-and are adapted to bear upon the road and support the vehicle, withits wheelsraised inoperatively above the road, so that the vehiclebecomes a sled. When the links are inclined, as shown by Figure 2, therunners are raised against the hanger bars 15, and are raised above thelower 'p'ortions of the wheels, so that th latter are operative.

To permit, the convenient lowering and raising of the runners,- and tolock the runners in each position, we provide manually operablemechanism, preferably embodied as next described. Pivoted at26, to oneof the hanger bars, 15, :is a swinging fulcrum link 27, the tree end ofwhich is pivoted at 28 to a lever 29, the pivot-28 constituting aswinging fulcrum. The shorter :arm of the lever '29 extends through aguide 30, on the fulcrum linlr-carrying bar 15, and its lower end ispivotedat 31to .the corresponding runner '25. The longer arm of thelever is inclined rearwa'rdly across the rear axle 1'3, and stands inposition to be manipulated by the operator. When the longer arm israised,.ias shown by Figure 1, from the position lshownby Figure 2, theshorter and is moved downward and rearward, and

lowers the runners, the links 20 and 22 being swung downward, and motionbeing communicated from t e links at one side to those at the oppositeside by the tie bars 21 and23. When the runners are fully lowered, theyare locked 'bya loclringrdog 33,'pivoted at 34 to one of the hanger bars15, and provided with notches 35 and 86, each adapted to engage a stud37 on the shorter arm of the lever. The notch 35 engages the stud whenthe runners are lowered, so that movement of gg nae upward, and raisesthe runners, which are locked in their raised position by the engagementof the notch 36 with the stud 37.

The runner 25, opposite the runner with which the lever is connected,may be provided with a hooked brace link 41%, pivoted at 43 to therunner, and slidable in a guide or keeper 14-, attached to thecorresponding hanger bar 15. The hook 15v of said link engages thekeeper, as shown by Figure 1, when the runners are fully lowered. Therunners are provided with curved extensions 46, attached by rivets -17to the connecting tie bar 21, and provided with cars 18, connected withthe lower ends of the forward links 20, by the forward pivot bolts 2 2.When the runners are lowered, the extensions 4:6 constitute the curvedforward ends of the runners, and when the runners are raised, theextensions are swung or folded upward, as shown by Figure 2, so that thelength of the attachment is decreased.

The hanger which includes the bars 14 and 15, is preferably adjustable,to vary the dis tance between the bars 14-, and the distance between thebars 15, as required by vehicles of difiTerent sizes. To this end wemake each of the bars 1% in two overlapping sections, united by bolts50, removably inserted in holes 51 in the sections, there being aplurality of holes. The bolts 18 connecting the standards 16 with thehanger bars 15 are removably inserted in holes 52 in said bars, each barhaving a plurality of holes. The link-connecting bars 21 and 23 are alsomade in overlapping sections, connected by bolts 53, removably insertedin holes 54 in said sections. 1 The bolts 17 connecting the ends of thecross bars 14 with the standards 16 are removably inserted in holes 55in said standards, there being a plurality of holes 55 arranged invertical rows, so that the hanger bars 15 may be vertically adjusted toenable the runners to be lowered to any extent required by the diameterof the car riage wheels, a downward adjustment of the bars 15 causing anincreased downward projection of the runners when they are fullylowered.

The object of the raised portions 14 on the hanger cross bars is toprovide a space or clearance between said portions and under the axlesfor the usual carriage brake, and for the-hubs of the carriage wheels.

We claim:

1. A sled attachment for wheeled vehicles, comprising a hanger havingmeans for attachment to the axles of a vehicle, a pair of runners,forward and rear end links pivoted to the hanger and to the runners, andpermitting combined endwise and upward and downward movements of therunners, means connecting the runners to cause them to move in unison,said means including a cross-bar rigidly connecting the upper ends seasof the forward links, means for locking the runners at the extremes oftheir upward and downward movements, and curved runner extensions havingears pivoted to the lower ends of the forward links and to the forwardends of the runners, and rigidly attached to the said cross-bar torigidly support the extensions against sidewise displacement, saidextensions being adapted to fold upward, when the runners are raised, toreduce the length of the attachment.

2. A sled attachment for wheeled vehicles, comprising a hanger havingmeans for attachment to the axles of a vehicle, a pair of runners,forward and rear end links pivoted to the hanger and to the runners, andpermitting combined endwise and upward and downward movements of therunners, means connecting the runners to cause them to move in unison,and means for locking the runners at the extremes of their upward anddown ward movements, said hanger being composed of cross bars adapted tobe seated on the under sides of the axles, and side bars rigidlyconnected with the cross bars, and pivoted to the said links, theattachment also including clamps adapted to secure the cross bars to theaxles.

3. A sled attachment for wheeled vehicles, comprising a hanger havingmeans for attachment to the axles of a vehicle, apair of runners,forward and rear end links pivoted to the hanger and to the runners, andpermitting combined endwise and upward and downward movements of therunners, means connecting the runners to cause them to move in unison,and means for locking the run ners at the extremes of their'upward anddownward movements, said hanger being composed of cross bars adapted tobe seated on the under sides of the axles, and having downwardly bentend portions, and side bars having upwardly projecting standards attached to the said end portions.

1. A sled attachment for wheel vehicles, comprising a hanger havingmeans for attachment to the axles of a vehicle, a pair of runners,forward and rear end links pivoted to the hanger and to the runners, andpermitting combined endwise and upward and downward movements of therunners, means connecting the runners to cause them to move in unison,and means for lock-- ingthe runners at the extremes of their upward anddownward movements, said hanger being composed of cross bars adapted tobe seated on the under sides of the axles, and having downwardly bentend portions, and side bars having upwardly projecting standardsattached to the said end portions, the said standards being adjustablysecured to the side bars to vary the distance between the cross bars andconform the same to the distance between the axles, the cross bars ofthe hanger bein adjustably connected with 1 ssess g the standards, tovary the vertical distance between the runners andthe axles when therunners are lowered.

5. A sled attachment for wheeled vehicles, comprising a hanger havingmeans for attachment to the axles of a vehicle, a pair of runners,forward and rear end links pivoted to the hanger and to the runners, andpermitting combined endwise and upward and downward movements of therunners, means connecting the runners to cause them to move in unison, amanually operable lever pivoted to one of the runners, and movable in alongitudinal guide on the corresponding side bar of the hanger, afulcrum link pivoted to the said side bar and to the lever, said linkconstituting a swinging fulcrum for the lever, the arrangement beingsuch that swinging movements of the lever lower and raise the runners,and a locking dog pivoted to the said side bar, and

adapted to engage a stud on the lever to prevent swinging movements ofthe lever from either its runner-lowering, or runner-raising position,and thereby lock the runners.

6. A sled attachment for Wheeled Vehicles substantially as specified byclaim 5, the said lever being provided with a spring-pressed slidinghandle connected by a rod with the said dog, and adapted to releasablyhold the dog in engagement With the lever stud.

7. A sled attachment for Wheeled vehicles, substantially as specified byclaim 5, comprising also a hooked brace link pivoted to one or therunners, and a keeper fixed to the corresponding side bar of the hanger,and adapted to engage said link when the run.- ners are lowered.

In testimony whereof we have atlixed our signatures.

WILFRED GABON. PHILIAS GABON.

